Nigeria, the largest oil producer in Africa and a member of OPEC, plans to ramp up its oil production to potentially reach 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) by November 2023.
Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, the Permanent Secretary at Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources, shared this objective during the OPEC+ seminar in Vienna, expressing the country’s aim to secure a higher quota in the OPEC+ agreement.
Nigeria has consistently fallen short of meeting its production quota within the OPEC+ agreement. The country’s crude oil production has been hindered by pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and insufficient investments in capacity.
As a result, Nigeria has become the largest underperformer in terms of crude oil production within the OPEC+ alliance.
The issues of oil theft and pipeline vandalism have persistently plagued Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas industry, leading to major companies exiting the country and frequently causing force majeure declarations at critical crude oil export terminals.
Earlier this year, Nigeria’s production quota within the OPEC+ agreement stood at 1.742 million bpd. However, due to the country’s consistent underproduction of over 400,000 bpd, Nigeria’s output cap was reduced to 1.38 million bpd during the OPEC+ meeting held in early June.
OPEC stated that the upcoming OPEC+ meeting, scheduled to take place by the end of 2023, will reassess Nigeria’s required production level. This reassessment will be based on evaluations from three independent sources specializing in oil upstream, namely IHS, Wood Mackenzie, and Rystad Energy.
The aim is to determine the average production achievable by Nigeria in 2024 and adjust its production target accordingly.
OPEC added that Nigeria has declared a Production Plan of 1.578 million bpd for 2024. This plan is subject to verification, and if confirmed, the figure will be considered as the required production level for Nigeria in 2024.
Nigeria’s oil production currently falls approximately 1 million bpd short of its capacity. The government attributes this situation to various factors, including inadequate investments, limited funding sources due to the energy transition, and security challenges.
In May, Gbenga Komolafe, the chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), stated that despite having a technical allowable capacity of approximately 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, Nigeria’s current production stands at around 1.5 million barrels of oil and condensate per day.
Source : oilprice.com
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